Chapter 37 TH
Damon opened his eyes some time later. He wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious, but there was now an oil lamp on the table next to him. He grunted, trying to sit up when he felt a tug on his arm. He had a tube feeding him fluids. Damn. He was grateful for the medicine but he certainly didn't want to rely on any 19th century hygiene. Especially not if he really was human here.
He sat up slowly, thankful that he could now. He was still very weak though. Strange that he hadn't returned to the real world briefly. He stood up, testing his legs. He felt a bit stronger but he was still vulnerable - not something he liked at all. He grabbed his jeans and struggled to get them on. The tube in his arm pulled, snagging his skin painfully and he huffed and ripped it out, surprised by the pain that followed. It was sharp and he grabbed his arm and squeezed the wound as he panted through it. The pain was blinding! Definitely human here then.
He looked down at the hole left by the tube and felt nauseous. It was bleeding. Odd how the urge to lick it wasn't present. He thought on that for a moment, on the implications of that. If neither of them were vampires here then their bodies weren't mated either. He could die here too and evidently feel pain, but he couldn't think on that just now. This wasn't reality. He sighed and got dressed. What was he to do? He could be pulled back into his real body at any time.
He walked slowly out of the room trying to tune his ears in to listen out for the nurses. He remembered this hospital well. He'd been born here when their mother had experienced complications.
He made his way along the corridors, awed at how well he remembered the smells and look of the place after all of this time. He noticed a door with a plaque on it and he moved towards it.
Dr S Salvator M.D.
He ran his fingers over the metal, feeling his chest tighten. He tried the handle and the door opened easily. The room was small but tidy. He looked around, closing the door behind him. Stefan had awards for medical excellence and a medal for bravery during service to the Confederate Army. He ran his fingers over his desk to make it seem more real.
So, if this was Stefan's life without Katherine then where was he? Did he exist too? He shook his head. No. He couldn't, otherwise Stefan would recognise him. What the he'll did that mean then and why had this happened?
He noticed a photograph on the desk and he sat down and lifted it. Photographs were still early on in their creation really so the clarity wasn't a pinch on what he was used to. He stared at it, recognising Stefan. There was a woman - his wife? A wife.
A wife.
His heart sank and he put it down again. Of course Stefan would be married. Hell if they'd lived, Giuseppe would have been eager for that. Their father hadn't been quiet about wanting grandchildren. Still, this really hurt. Was he happy? Fulfilled by an existence filled with life, a loving wife and job? Hell he probably had children too. That thought sent him onto his feet and he turned away and headed back towards the door. He didn't want to see anymore. He couldn't take it. This place was necessary to keep Stefan from going mad stuck inside his brain, nothing more. It didn't matter that it was strange. In the meantime, he had to get back to his body and finish their fight. Then he'd get his Stefan back.
He opened the door and retreated by down the hallway when he felt faint again and stopped to rest against the wall. What was going on? He grunted and closed his eyes, sagging. He had to get out of here and figure out what was going on in this weird reality.
He heard Stefan's voice from down the hall and he opened his eyes again, on alert and propelled himself forward. Stefan didn't know him at all and he wanted to know why. If this really was Mystic Falls, he had to know how it differed. Perhaps there'd be a clue as to how to get out of here.
He made it past the room Stefan was in and moved as swiftly as he could. He remembered there was a side door. Mercifully his memory was still sharp and he found it, struggling out as quietly as he could, into the daylight. He blinked hard and shielded his eyes. The air smelled and tasted different. Weird. He looked around, moving out of the way of a horse and cart and took it all in. He really was back in time. He looked around for something familiar. Everything was as it had been. He saw faces of people he'd known. People he'd worked with as a youth, members of the Founders Council walked straight past him, merely lifting their hats in a gesture of polite acknowledgement. He gave a bewildered smile each time and got a few unsure looks. This was a small town. A stranger really stood out here.
He began to move as quickly as he could, headed for their old home. He wasn't sure where else to go. He surprised himself at how well he remembered the way he used to walk all those years ago. Father hadn't had many horses that he could ride, or that he was allowed to ride that was. He often walked on foot and had had many different routes and hiding places where he could go to escape. When Stefan had been old enough to accompany him he'd shown him them all.
He smiled to himself, embracing the innocence of that memory. After around half an hour he saw the family home in sight and he stopped to look at it. He hadn't seen it for a long time. It had been destroyed mostly, after they'd left Mystic Falls. In the years he'd been back to honour his mother's grave, he'd often visited the site – which was now rubble. Yet here it was I all its glory. Then a thought occurred.
If Stefan was here and had somehow lived out a human life without Katherine and vampires, then could his mother still be alive and be here too? His heart squeezed at the thought and he moved faster. If it was possible he could see her again. She wouldn't know him, but he could still look at her, see her alive and well and happy.
He headed around the back of the property, just in case anyone saw him and thought he was trespassing. He kept his head low, treading the uneven ground carefully until he heard voices. He reached the back edge of the family cemetery and ducked down behind a large stone, peeking around carefully to see who the voice belonged to. It was a woman. Was it mother?
He regulated his breathing, feeling his chest tight. It wasn't mother. It was a servant, calling to others on the kitchens. He studied her carefully, straining to make out her face with human eyes. He'd never realised how poor human vision was in comparison to vampire eyes. He frowned, frustrated and inched closer when he tripped on a rock and had to lean against another stone. He cursed out loud and looked down at the name annoyed. His heart stopped. He sank to the ground and touched the name as bile rose in his throat. Stupid. So stupid to believe that maybe she was still here, alive.
"Mother." He croaked, closing his eyes as he felt tears beckon.
Stupid to grieve for her. He'd already been there and done that years ago. Hell, he even came and visited her graveside in the real world too still. He'd grieve aplenty for her, yet somehow being here in this time opened the wound like it was fresh. He sat down, shaking his head and looking at the writing. She'd died when Stefan was young still, but at least he hadn't been an infant.
He exhaled and clenched his jaw. In this reality she hadn't died because of him at least. He'd never doubted that Giuseppe had hated him because of her passing. He'd caught scarlet fever and had given it to her. Giuseppe had been more carefully with precious Stefan and hadn't allowed him to see his brother for months until he was recovered, but mother had come and sat with him, singing to him and bathing him when Flora had to attend to Stefan.
The fact that she'd died young here felt strange. Was she just destined to die young? Had it been his fault then? Giuseppe thought so.
He stood up again after a few moments and looked towards the house. Giuseppe had treated him with nothing but contempt after mother had died. He blamed him for it and he'd never tried to hide that fact very much either. Without him having existed here, would Giuseppe be the same twisted, bitter man? Perhaps Giuseppe would be completely different too.
He moved forward to get nearer to the house when he stopped again and looked at another stone. The oxygen seemed to leave his lungs and he fell to his knees this time, desperately wiping the moss and dirt from the name frantically as his heart beat wildly.
"No, no, no…" he panted as the name became crystal clear.
He let out a wail of disbelief as he stared at his own name in horror. How could this be? He wiped at the date and sat back again. He had lived here. He had been real too, except he'd died as a child. Stefan would have been alive!
He pushed himself back along the ground. Sure he'd had phoney headstones made for him before as he'd moved on to another incarnation but this one, right here in the family plot was the most awful thing he'd ever seen. It felt as though he was being staked in the heart.
"No!" He got to his feet clumsily and turned away, out of the cemetery. He didn't want to see anymore.
This was just all a dumb part of Stefan's unconscious mind keeping him ticking until he could return to his body. That was all. But then…it wasn't as simple as that really. A life without him in it, meant that Stefan had lived. He'd become a hero at war, become a doctor just like he'd wanted, married. What did that mean? In this world Stefan's life had been better without him? That thought was too much to bear.
He made his way away, trying to put some distance from the house when he heard the voice of a child giggling. He turned, unable to resist the temptation and watched as a black haired girl ran in the land outside of the house. She was being chased by a servant, one he was sure he knew.
Curiosity won out and he cut through the graveyard not looking at any more stones and stopped, hiding somewhere he could see them. It was Miss Flora. He'd known it! She was older though, but then she would be. The last time he'd seen her, he'd been a child and she was supposed to have died during the Civil War. He'd met her son on the battlefield and he'd told him about it.
Everything was so messed up here. Then again, a world that still had Mammy in it, was a little brighter. Then he remembered Vida. Somehow Miss Flora was communicating with his little angel. For what purpose? He had to know.
He stood up and approached them. The little girl squealed as she was swung around in Flora's arms, both of them laughing until they spotted him.
"Hi there. I hope I'm not intruding." He said politely and the little girl gazed at him curiously.
He focussed his attention on Flora and she searched his face and kept a hold of Vida.
"I'm afraid I lost my horse, she threw me and I saw your home." He continued to walk to them and Flora held up her hand and stopped him. "My apologies I am a friend of Stefan Salvatore."
Flora smiled down at the child.
"Go on to your mother." She patted the child in the direction of the house and the child stumbled a few times as she tried to look backwards at the stranger.
Damon waited politely as the child disappeared and Flora turned to him.
"This is very dangerous." Her voice took on a strange tone and he looked to her confused. "How did you get here Damon?"
Damon?
He exhaled in surprise and she looked around and ushered him to her side as she moved to the rear of the servant entrance, away from prying eyes. He was too gobsmacked to speak as he followed her. When she was sure no one had seen them she turned to him and crossed her arms.
"This isn't possible. You can't be here."
"You know me?" he swallowed thickly and she sighed and her eyes softened.
"I know every babe I've nursed." She said and he sagged, full of emotion.
She reached up and put her hands on his shoulders, searching his face.
"My, you grew up handsome." She said sadly.
"Mammy?"
She nodded and cupped his cheeks, having to reach up on her tiptoes to do so and he stared at her paralysed with emotion.
"You can't be here. This place is not for you."
"Where are we? What is this place?" He grabbed her hands and held them.
"This is the in-between. Stefan's in-between and you need to leave before he realises and it changes everything."
"What do you mean?" He beseeched.
She sighed.
"He's being given a second chance at life here. Without this, he'll pass over as a half a being and no one knows what that'll mean for him."
"This is limbo?" His eyes grew large and she shook her head.
"No. This place is only for Stefan."
"How did I get here?"
"I don't know, but you can't stay. You're not dead. You must return to your body without him."
He dropped her hands.
"I can't leave without him." He said defensively.
"You must. He doesn't know you." She said gently and he rubbed his eyes. "He has been given the chance to cleanse his soul and join with the greater good. It's his only chance to survive."
Damon looked at her pained.
"So he's not dead."
"Not exactly, but he is divided."
"Divided?"
"From his own soul. He is too weak to ever go back to his real body, so you have to give him this chance to pass over complete. You have to let him save himself."
"Pass over?" Damon whispered horrified. "No, he has to come back to the real world!"
Flora cupped his face again and cooed at him as he panted.
"It's his time Damon. The best thing you can do for him is to let him live out a good life and join the rest of his soul so that he can move on complete. You have your own destiny back in your body."
He shook his head and pushed her away from him.
"Don't touch me." He hardened. "I don't know what this is lady, but I can tell you that it's not my reality. Stefan's not going anywhere but back to his body, back to our life!"
She shook her head sadly and held herself.
"What are you?" He pinned her with his eyes and she stared back at him unflinching. "What do you want with my angel?"
"I don't know what you mean." She said and he hardened, pushing her against the wall.
"I don't know what you are or what the hell this is, but leave my daughter out of it. Hear me?" He said venomously and she nodded calmly. "Don't get in my way." He threatened and stalked off towards the field again.
She watched him go, shaking her head and aching for him. He was so lost. She couldn't save them both however and Damon still had a ways to go before he could ever accept the things he'd done and truly repent for them. Stefan on the other hand, could be saved.
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Damon broke out into a run and made it most of the way back to the town before he needed to rest. He had so much adrenaline. It felt great. Still, this body was human and he began to feel hungry and in need of a stiff drink. He approached a drunken man, walking along the road and he spoke to him, entering into polite conversation before punching him until he was unconscious and stealing the money left in his pockets. He needed to eat.
He wandered over to an old bar. One of the first in Mystic Falls. Not many gentleman drank in public – it was considered to be very unsavoury, but what did he care? No one knew him anyway. He was no one.
He sat down at the bar and ordered. He could smell food and his mouth watered. He huffed in amusement at that and ordered a bowl of hot soup and bread. Whenever someone tried to speak to him he ignored them, until everyone had gotten the message. The bar was filled with men talking of their memories of the war, showing off medals and wounds now healed.
Damon shook his head and continued to drink. His money wouldn't last much longer though and he had to have a plan.
"Hey." He called the barman over. "I'm new in town. I'm a friend of Stefan Salvatore. Do you know him?"
"Dr Salvatore? Sure, he's the best doctor in the town!" The man smiled. "I've known his family all my life."
Damon scrutinised the man's face. He didn't know this guy, so how was he so well acquainted with the Salvatores?
"I haven't seen him since we met during the service. How is he these days?" He lied and the barman looked him over as if in disbelief that he had seen any action in the war.
"Good, good. He works over at the hospital, over that ways." He pointed in the general direction and Damon nodded, feigning interest.
"Say." Damon chuckled. "That wife he always talked about…"
"Yeah, pretty thing too. Not surprised old Salvatore got them hitched before the effort began. Determined to have an army of little ones I think." He chuckled and Damon gave a tight smile.
"How many they got then?"
"Think they have three now…yeah. Don't know how he finds the time." The man gave a dirty laugh and returned to serving people as Damon bit his lip.
So Stefan had three children and a wife. Everything seemed perfect for him. Could what Flora said be true? Was this like an alternative life for Stefan so that he could redeem himself somehow? Like, if he could be a good and virtuous person here, then he'd be able to become whole again? What the hell did that mean anyway?
He sat back, sipping on whisky as he thought it through. Bonnie had said that Stefan was…a Halfling. A Halfling. All due to the fact that he'd died and been brought back by Damon's soul being split to trap him in his body. Stefan only had half a soul. Bonnie said that's why the other spirits had been able to get inside of him to possess him. That's how grandma had gotten into him. So how did that get fixed? How could he become a whole soul again and what would that do to him? He didn't understand it. He didn't understand any of it!
He felt the tell-tale sensation of weakness begin again and he grunted, blinking hard and tried to stand up, when he fell over by accident. People crowded around him, speaking to him and he fought their hands as he felt his body pulse as if being squeezed. He groaned.
What was happening? Where was he? Where was Stefan? Vida?
"Vida?" He mumbled, hearing a baby cry nearby. "Vida." He repeated groggily.
"Move out of the way!" He heard a voice command and he opened his eyes to see Stefan above him.
"Well hello doc." He tried to joke when Stefan looked at him annoyed and pulled at his arm.
He felt a sharp pinch and looked down in surprise as he saw Stefan withdraw a needle.
"What are you..?" He said before falling back and passing out.
"You need a hand Dr Salvatore?" The barman asked and Stefan stood up and nodded.
"Take him and tell the nurse to confine him." Stefan advised and two men carried Damon out as carefully as they could, between them.
"Everything ok Stefan?" The barman asked and Stefan gave a reassuring smile. "He ok? He said you served together back in the day."
Stefan fell silent and gave a small smile politely and the barman awaited more of a response.
"He in some trouble?"
Stefan looked to the man again and fixed the collar of his surgical coat.
"You could say that."
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"Going somewhere were you?" A young nurse appeared when he awoke and touched his shoulder.
"Huh?" He grunted.
"You need to relax and let us take care of you." She advised and he tried to sit up, when he realised that he was tied down.
He struggled, trying to move and the nurse cooed at him and tried to calm him.
"What the fuck are you doing?" He growled and she sighed and lifted a needle.
His eyes widened as she moved to his arm and he lay back.
"No, no! I'm fine. I'm fine." He said hurriedly and she looked to him and waited. "Please."
She put the needle back down and he tried to calm down and breathe.
"Where's...?" He began when Stefan entered the room.
He relaxed at the sight and Stefan asked the nurse to leave. He closed the door behind her and turned back to look at him.
"Stefan." He exhaled. "How long was I out?"
"A while." Stefan answered before checking his pulse. "Who are you?" Stefan stood with authority and stared him out.
Something about him was off, strange. Damon studied him trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Are you going to untie me?" Damon tried to joke but Stefan stared at him unmoving.
A shimmer of fear tingled through him, making all of his hairs stand on end.
"Stefan…"
"Who are you?" Stefan asked calmly and Damon swallowed nervously.
"Damon." He replied, trying to subtly struggle with the restraints to test their hold on him.
"How do you know me?" Stefan remained cold.
"Let me out of these."
"How…" Stefan repeated, pausing as Damon pulled at his arms again, "..do you know me?"
"This isn't very doctorly!" Damon hissed, struggling harder with his human strength and Stefan came around to his side and pushed on his chest hard with the palm of his hand to keep him where he was.
"How do you know my family? Who sent you here?!" Stefan spat at him and he halted his attempts to move and stared at him confused.
"No one."
"How did you know my daughter's name? Huh? How did you disappear all those years ago?"
Damon panted, pained as Stefan leaned his hand onto his chest harder and made him take a deep breath. Stefan waited, looking at him suspiciously. What was he talking about? What was he thinking? Damon kept quiet.
After a few seconds Stefan released his chest and stood up reaching for the needle. Damon exhaled and watched him.
"What are you doing?"
"We are going to sit here until you tell me exactly who you're working for and what your plan is." Stefan said calmly as he flicked the air bubbles out of the needle.
Damon cringed in disbelief.
"Stefan wait, please I'm not…" He began to protest when Stefan stuck the needle into his arm roughly.
He cried out and Stefan stared at him, waiting with his finger tip on the head of the needle.
"Vida." Stefan said and Damon frowned. "Is that your plan? You're here for my Vida?"
Damon shook his head. His Vida? Vida was here?
"What?"
"Are you here to take my daughter? To hurt her?"
Damon's eyes widened and he shook his head. The little black haired girl he'd seen. Stefan had called her Vida? What could that mean? Was some of his Stefan leaking through into this weird person's mind? Weird indeed because this wasn't the Stefan he'd always known.
"Then why the hell were you at my house today? How did you know my daughter's name?" Stefan pressed.
"I was lost."
"You must really think I'm stupid. You all must. Well you're not going to get me to join you, no matter what you do. You hear?!" Stefan sounded deranged and Damon nodded. "I am not one of you."
Stefan jabbed the needle in again and Damon grunted in pain. He was helpless. He couldn't move and Stefan had clearly lost his marbles!
"I can keep you here as long as I need to until I find out what I need to know. Men don't just disappear into thin air. You're one of them."
"Yes." Damon played along.
"How did you find me?" Stefan seemed to relax slightly at Damon's acceptance.
"Giuseppe." Damon panted, looking to the solution in the needle.
"He told you where to find me?" Stefan asked incredulously and Damon nodded. "I never thought he'd sink so low."
Stefan seemed contemplative at that moment.
"What else did he tell you?" Stefan pressed. "How did he want you to make me do it?"
"Do what?" Damon's head was spinning and he could feel some small amounts of the drug entering him now.
"Get me to kill you! You're not human, you're some kind of demon." Stefan hissed. "He wants me gone like my brother, turned to a demon wolf so he can be rid of me. He thinks I'm corrupt now."
Damon stared at him, trying to add all of the dots together as Stefan shook his head.
"I'm your brother." He said it before he could stop himself and Stefan looked at him with hardness in his eyes.
"My brother is dead. My father killed him and you know it!" Stefan took a hold of Damon's throat with his hand, dropping the needle onto the floor as he squeezed.
Damon choked and coughed, his eyes widening.
"You won't turn me into a wolf. Father's not going to get to my family!" Stefan shouted and Damon felt his heart thunder at the pressure of keeping him alive.
He gasped and coughed, straining against the bed and heard nurses beating on the door. The door burst inwards and three nurses ran to Stefan, pulling him off of him and Damon almost vomited at the relief of being able to drag air into his lungs. Stefan struggled until he hit one of the nurses and she fell over, crying out. He stopped, realising what he was doing and leaned down to help her.
"I'm sorry, Margaret I'm…" he croaked and the others helped her up cautiously. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's ok Dr Salvatore. It's ok." She said, trying not to weep and Stefan looked back at Damon, ashamed and confused.
He left the room in a hurry and one of the nurses came to Damon and untied him. He coughed, feeling as though his lungs were on fire. The nurse rubbed his back and he leaned over the side of the bed and vomited. The nurse cooed to him and reassured him and he lay back, breathing loudly once more.
"What's wrong with him?" He managed to ask between breaths and the nurse tucked him in and stroked the hair from his forehead gently.
"It was the war. Sometimes he gets confused. He's a good man, though. A good doctor." She fussed and Damon nodded. "He's respected in this town. He carries sway."
He looked at her, but she avoided his eyes. Despite her kind tone, her message was clear. Stefan was to be protected from any fall back as a result of this episode. Clearly the medical staff were aware of Stefan's fragile mental health and they were used to covering for him.
She lingered only long enough to ensure that he would keep silent about what had just transpired before she left and he sat up, trying to gather his thoughts. Stefan had the war madness. It made sense. He hadn't blinked an eyelid over the fact that a man who had vanished before his eyes had turned up again with no explanation. What was he babbling about though? Wolf. Stefan had mentioned he wouldn't become a wolf. So did he know about their ancestry? Their bloodline? How? Stefan had been fixated on Giuseppe somehow being involved in a plot to get rid of him, to have him turned into a wolf. What?
He held his throat, still coughing and wheezing a little. Stefan knew about werewolves then and somehow he thought Giuseppe had sent Damon to force him to kill. So Stefan knew that you had to kill to become a werewolf and it sounded as though Giuseppe did too. Had Giuseppe known all along in their reality too or just here?
If Stefan became a werewolf here, then what would happen in real life to his body?